


The Tension Between Us

by Indehed



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Episode Related, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-19
Updated: 2017-11-19
Packaged: 2019-02-04 10:18:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12768933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Indehed/pseuds/Indehed
Summary: A re-write of episode 8x06, where Chloe is a more competent and insightful counselor, and Steve and Danny address certain decisions they've made in the past that are now the crux of the greatest stress in their lives.---"What's stressful about how much you love one another, is in how you keep yourselves to this predefined level," she tried to explain."Oh, I get it," Lou said with a nod after another sip of beer. "You're talking about how they're in love but act like oblivious idiots over it and don't just get married for real and take it to the honeymoon suite?""That's a colorful way of putting it but essentially, yes," Chloe answered.





	The Tension Between Us

**Author's Note:**

> This is a re-imagining of episode 8x06. There's some bits in here entirely lifted from the show, others where I've made a variation, and then the parts that are entirely my own.  
> Unbeta'd. Longer than I expected it to be! I was considering going on longer, then it would be a lot more talk-y and I'd need to deal with Lynn and Melissa and I don't have the energy for that right now, but we all know by the end what direction it has to go in anyway so I don't really need to write it!

Danny went over the list in his head and the things he planned to say as he watched Steve swimming back to shore side by side with Eddie. If there was one thing Steve had maybe done right in the way he was helping himself, it was to take on Eddie full time as his own dog. The man could spout anything he wanted about Eddie coming 'pre-trained' or the fact that he was useful to Five-0, but the big softie had simply fallen for Eddie's charms. It was good to see Steve take on the responsibility of the dog. It made it feel like he planned to be around long enough to take care of him. 

But the man was still so flippant all the time about his health and Danny couldn't wrap his head around the mentality. If it was him in Steve's situation he'd be in a blind panic. He needed to give Steve a reality jolt, needed him to understand the seriousness of the situation. Needed him to face his own mortality - especially in their line of work. He might joke about Steve trying to kill himself on the job but somewhere in the last few months, Danny had started to think it might be true - maybe Steve wanted to go out in a blaze of glory rather than in his sick bed. 

But Danny was determined that neither of those things would happen and he had to make sure Steve was on the same page. 

The man and his dog waded out of the water and Danny felt that familiar loop wrap around his stomach at the sight. He was always attracted to the man but they'd decided long ago not to jeopardize their partnership and friendship with anything more. It didn't stop him indulging in the occasional look or touch and Danny was sure the same went for Steve.

As soon as Eddie spotted Danny standing there, the tail began to wag and he bolted over to say hello.

"Hey, buddy!" Danny greeted him. With one arm immobilized he couldn't greet the dog with as much enthusiasm as he'd like as he didn't want Eddie to turn into a hyper lab and knock into him too much and jostle his arm. "Wow, love the smell of wet dog in the morning."

"Eddie, shake!" Steve said just as Eddie relieved himself of the sea water dripping from his coat. 

"Alright," Danny backed up a little as the water droplets hit him. "What did you teach him to do that?"

Steve grabbed his towel from the back of the chair and gave Danny a huge grin before wiping himself down. "Maybe I got the idea after the way Harry Langford said hello to you last time we saw him. Or maybe Eddie just doesn't like you. You ever consider that?" Steve moved to the porch and Danny followed.

"He loves me very much, don't you, buddy?" Danny said as Eddie proceeded to dance around him, much more interested in Danny than in Steve.

"Let me guess, the dog has good taste, huh?" Steve asked. 

"Naturally," Danny agreed. "I'm a very lovable guy and dogs are much better judges of character than humans are."

"Then I guess Eddie is just corroborating what I already knew," Steve said, leaving his statement hanging for both of them to gloss over - something that was typical of both of them to do; backing off before the flirting went too far, made things awkward and possible led to another conversation neither had seemed willing to have for the a while now.

The dog ran ahead of them both as they continued the trek up Steve's backyard towards the lanai. "What are you doing here anyway?" Steve asked.

"I just came to hang out with my BFF for a bit. What's the big deal?"

"BFF? I thought you hated that term."

"I do. I hate it. And I can't believe I just used it. Doesn't make it any less true, though."

"Okay, BFF," Steve replied. "Hold this," he handed his wet towel over to Danny as he put his t-shirt on.

"I uh-" Danny watched Steve pull his sneakers on. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going for a run," Steve replied.

"Whoa, I brought coffee and Liliha bakery, we'll visit."

"What's going on?" Steve asked, suspicious.

"What do you mean 'what's going on'? I brought cocoa puffs, you love cocoa puffs. And you just swam 19 miles, what do you need a run for? Come on, let's go inside. You don't need a run." He reached for Steve's arm and grasped tight so the man couldn't dodge away and he led him to the door.

He ushered Steve in with Eddie following obediently, but he watched as the SEAL showed wariness at what was greeting him. They wandered slowly over. Lou was sitting in the leather arm chair and there was someone who was a complete stranger sitting on the couch while Junior hovered uncertainly nearby.

"What is this?" Steve asked of Danny.

"Have a seat," Lou told him, pointing to the open chair.

Steve looked down to where Eddie was sitting patiently. "You're a traitor you know that? Beat it," he said and Eddie trotted off to the kitchen.

"So, uh, so first of all, this is Chloe Gordon and she's here for a reason that we will get onto in a moment," Danny said introducing her and she gave a short 'hi' and a wave. "But, I, uh - **we** \- wanted to talk to you about your recent diagnosis with radiation poisoning which we all know brings with it a greater risk of uh-"

"Getting cancer," Steve finished for him. It still seemed easy for him to say, like it wasn't really to do with him and Steve's reaction emboldened Danny.

"That's right but that's not going to happen. We're not going to let that happen," Danny told him, trying to get his determination across. "I did some research and I discovered that there are some steps you can take to, uh… well, to ensure that you are tumor free for the rest of the flick. Right?"

Steve looked like he just wasn't interested. "I just swam two miles. I haven't eaten anything. Can I maybe get an egg or something?"

"Do you want to know what some of those things I found out are, or not?"

"Nope," Steve replied immediately but Danny ignored him. 

"Stress. You don't need stress. Stress is not your friend right now."

"Stress?"

"Studies have shown that there is a link between cancer and stress, especially in cases where the thyroid has been compromised. So a person like you needs to eliminate all psychological stress if possible."

Steve sighed but he was cottoning on to the fact that Danny felt this was important even if he didn't. "I didn't know all of that. It's a good health tip. Good to have you looking out for me so thank you, but what else is going on here?" He asked as he looked over to Chloe. She was about to answer but Danny barreled on. 

"I knew that if I came here alone and talked to you about needing to lower your stress levels you'd make fun of me, bust my chops. So I brought back up."

"Steve," Lou began. "You know I love you like a brother. And when Danny first came to me with this new age mumbo jumbo - no offense," he looked to Danny who just shook it off. "You know I don't go for that stuff. But I did my own research and there is some anecdotal evidence that completely proves what Danny's saying. So why don't you listen to your boy, you know he loves you. You'd be doing yourself a favor. And we talked to everyone else you know and they all agreed with us. Hell, if it had been up to Jerry this would have turned into a full blown intervention so you're lucky it's just us here."

"Look, I'm touched," Steve said. "It's very sweet but Lou, we're in crazy town here. Clearly Danny has gone down a Web MD rabbit hole and he's taken you with him."

Danny caught Junior raising his hand out of the corner of his eye and he wiped at his forehead. "What is it? You don't need to raise your hand. You want to speak, then you speak."

"Sorry, sir," Junior said before remembering that Danny told him not to do that. "Look, I just want to point out that I've been witness to Commander McGarrett's actions over the last several weeks and from what I've seen I'm pretty confident he can handle whatever life throws at him."

"Okay, that's good. It's an opinion, I respect your opinion, but you don't know him as well as I do," Danny answered. 

"And respectfully, I disagree," Junior added. "Commander McGarrett served in combat. He lived in the cross-hairs of his enemy for years and I know for sure he lost some of his team buddies. Those are things that can take you down but from what I've seen he's been able to handle civilian life with great success."

"My man," Steve nodded. 

Danny watched the exchange well aware that Steve might be feeling ganged up on and was pleased that Junior was on his side. "Well, there's that," he said.

"Look, Danny, I appreciate this but any stress in my life I got a handle on, okay? I got it."

"I believe that you think that you do. I believe that. But I also think that you might not know. Which is why," he gestured towards the almost forgotten Chloe who had been sitting, clipboard in hand, writing down the odd note. "I believe we need an expert in the field who is better equipped to make that kind of decision. Chloe is a stress management consultant and she will evaluate you."

Steve burst into laughter. "That's not a real thing."

"Actually, it is. Danny and your other friends hired me to shadow you today and recommend better ways to manage your stress."

"You're welcome," Lou told him. 

"Okay, uh," Steve regrouped as he digested the new information. "But you heard what I was saying. There's no need for your services because I'm not stressed."

"I'll admit you do seem pretty relaxed, but I'm already paid for the day so tell you what. Why don't you just let me hang around and that way you can have the satisfaction of watching a professional tell your friends just how wrong they were."

Steve took a second, glanced at Danny who remained as impassive as possible despite approving of exactly what Chloe was doing to get Steve to agree. 

"Okay," Steve finally said. "No problem."

And then Steve's phone rang.

*

They drove to the crime scene with Chloe in the car with them. The poor girl hadn't been prepared for what she'd see and immediately ran off to throw up as Steve accused Danny of traumatizing her. 

They had a lead and a possible name and continued to work the scene with Duke a little longer while Chloe hung back. She sat on the hood of the car with her ever-present clip board taking note of what they were doing until they were finished and climbed back into the car.

Tani called them with information, so instead of heading back to HQ, Steve altered their course towards the address she'd given them.

Chloe took the opportunity to begin asking Steve some questions and Danny was happy listening to it, somehow taking pleasure in how uncomfortable Steve was feeling. Even though he'd hired Chloe to help and he hoped she would have some effect, it was still amusing to see someone approach talking to Steve in ways he knew would fail.

"What do you like doing in your spare time?" she continued. 

"I dunno, what do I do?" Steve kept glancing towards Danny for help. "I mean I swim, I swim a lot. I like to cook, do I not?"

"He's a good cook."

"Thank you," Steve replied as Danny relented and helped him out if even just vaguely. 

"I've got my dad's old mercury in the garage, I like to tinker with that when I've got some time. A bunch of stuff. I mean, Danny and I hang out a lot, maybe take in a game on the TV. Or I spend time with him when he's got the kids. I play with Charlie or help Gracie with her homework."

"He does, he helps out. They love their Uncle Steve a lot," Danny turned his head a little to look at Chloe. She seemed like she was analyzing the data Steve was giving her, turning it into a picture in her head of what he was like, who he really was.

"You're work partners and you consider yourself good friends outside of that? So much so that your friendship is one of the guiding things in what you choose to focus on outside of work. It's a huge focal point for you."

"I think being friends with your colleagues is the right way to go. I don't think you can spend all that time together on the job and hate each other," Steve put in. "And in our line of work it's more intense."

"Your friendship?" She asked, voice rising.

"I meant the job itself," Steve explained, once more glancing over to Danny who's expression was well schooled. "But I guess it applies to us, too. It's literally life or death sometimes and those situations really bring you closer," he cleared his throat at the end, gave Danny a long glance and then turned his eyes back to the road, but Danny could still feel Steve's attention on him.

"Okay, so what about any other relationships," she asked with a bit of a frown as she raised the question. "Are you seeing anyone?"

"I am. I'm seeing a lovely woman her name is Lynn. We've been seeing each other on and off for a while now."

"Okay," she said. "And are you guys intimate?"

Steve immediately looked to Danny and Chloe caught the glance and wrote something down quickly. "Intimate? You mean like-"

"Sex," she answered. "It can be a great stress reliever. So are you having regular sex?"

"It's a little - I mean," Steve looked over to Danny who laughed as he watched Steve squirming. "It's a little personal isn't it?"

"No need to be embarrassed, everyone does it," Danny said and once again caught how Chloe's eyes darted back and forth between the men like she was watching a tennis match. 

"I know that, and I'm not embarrassed. Yes, we're having regular sex."

"Good, and how often? And it can be just a ballpark figure."

"I dunno, maybe five times a week?"

"Oh, please with the five times a week," Danny scoffed. "That's an inaccurate number."

"Excuse me? How would you know how many times I'm having sex in a week?" Steve asked, affronted. 

"Because Lynn speaks to Melissa, and then Melissa shares with me," he answered while keeping the smile on his face to hide whatever it was about those conversations that stood out in his memory.

"Why are you and your girlfriend discussing my sex life?"

"He's having sex twice a week. Three at most and that's if it's someone's birthday or something."

"Don't write that down, it's not true," Steve said to Chloe before turning back to Danny. "And answer my question."

"Why is it a big deal?" Danny asked, trying to brush it off.

"Do me a favor. Don't discuss intimate details of my sex life with your girlfriend. I mean, that means you probably know what Lynn likes and doesn't like. And what I like. That's weird. Isn't it weird for you?" Steve asked and the tinge of a blush on his cheeks made Danny wonder what angle the discomfort was coming from. 

Danny ignored the question since he hadn't felt 'weird' so much when talking with Melissa about it. He'd been actively curious telling himself it was pieces to the puzzle that was Steve McGarrett slotting into place. The fact that he'd had dreams or whatever that included a more precise _picture_ and _feel_ of Steve afterwards didn't have to mean anything. He wasn't in charge of his subconscious when he was asleep - it didn't pay attention to the decisions made over who he dating.

"Are you actually sitting there telling me that the reverse isn't true? That Lynn doesn't then talk to you about whatever Melissa has said to her about me?"

Steve squirmed in his seat and Danny knew he'd got him on that one. "That's not the point."

"It very much **is** the point. We both know things about each other and I don't really know what it is you know about me," he gestured over his body. "And you don't know what I know about you," he gestured over Steve. "But we know that we know. Now."

Steve gave Danny a confused look, trying to wrap his head around the conversation. He clearly had a million questions. Danny knew for a fact that Steve had spent the last eight years finding out everything possible that he could about his partner. If that included the girl chats that Lynn and Melissa had then Danny was in no doubt that Steve paid great attention to whatever Lynn told him. But Steve routinely forgot things were a two way street and though Danny knew a lot about Steve - more so than probably anyone else in the world - knowing someone else had similar knowledge in reverse was never something Steve was comfortable with. He thought of these details as weaknesses to be exploited by his enemies. It was a hangover from his SEAL days and Danny knew it would never go away even if he did trust Danny with his life and his secrets. 

Their lives were completely entangled after all this time. Steve was right that their relationship was more intense due a lot to how often they'd saved each other. And it was now that Danny realized that Chloe would pick up on that and would be telling Danny how integral he was to keeping Steve in line when it came to his stress management. 

*

Finding another dead body - albeit someone who died of natural causes - raised more questions than answers. By the time they got the call about another victim now in the hospital, thoughts of whatever Chloe was seeing in them were pushed aside. 

She stayed by the car while they were talking to the man, which made their day feel more like normal again. While they were riding down in the elevator alone, Steve seemed fidgety and Danny gave him a look and he finally spoke. 

"Look, the thing Lynn and I do with the handcuffs. It's perfectly normal. Lots of couples do it."

"Okay," Danny answered, unsure what to say in response. 

"Same goes for the role-play with them, y'know, it doesn't have to _**mean**_ anything. And as for the time when we used them in the ocean, I think that shows a lot of trust and that's part of the turn on-"

"Okay, I'm going to stop you right there," Danny told him, hand raised. "Because what you're talking about right now is something I didn't know and I feel like if you continue you'll regret telling me all of this."

"Right," Steve said. Shutting up and the silence between them lay thick as the elevator continued to descend. 

"But it's good to know that trust in a relationship is important to you. In the sexual department as well," Danny said, feeling awkward and he grimaced after what he said. He was really just trying to fill in the silence and try not to think about exactly how much Steve gets up to in the bedroom using hand cuffs. If he thought about it too much, he might end up with a problem he didn't need right now. 

"I've learned over the last few years _**exactly**_ how important trust is," Steve mused, taking their talk down a more serious route that Danny could interpret immediately. After all Steve had been through, Danny had valued the trust they shared even more. He reached out and patted Steve's arm in support. 

With a ding, they reached the ground floor and made their way back to the car. Considering just how much this case was taking a turn towards someone with severe mental health issues, Steve announced that he would drop Danny and Chloe off at their office while he went to ask Alicia for help since this was much more her expertise than theirs. 

"Who's Alicia?" Chloe asked from the backseat. 

"She's a profiler that we have on hand when we need that kind of help," Steve answered. 

"She's worked with Five-0 a few times. Even almost drowned with Steve once. Wouldn't have happened if I'd been here at the time," Danny said bringing up a well-worn argument the two shared over the fact that Steve got himself into a mess of trouble when Danny wasn't around to stop it from happening. 

"You consider yourself to be a steadying force in Steve's life?" she asked. 

"Oh, I know I am. Without me around I have no idea what he'd be like, but it wouldn't be good."

"Oh, please. if there's someone in this partnership who'd be a wreck without the other, it's you, pal," Steve said back. 

"I beg to differ," Danny replied. "I was doing just fine before you came along. Before you I rarely got shot at. Now it happens about twice a day."

"That's not true. You're exaggerating."

"How many times have I been shot since I've known you, huh?" Danny asked, turning in his chair a little as he got into the argument. "Hell, you got me shot within hours of meeting you! Not long after that, I had to use a stick to get around for weeks because my ACL tore running around after you." He then lifted his injured arm. "And right here, huh! This was all your fault!"

"It was not! You fell off a ladder!"

"A ladder you got us that was sub-standard!"

"Gentlemen, it feels like we're getting a little off topic," Chloe interrupted them. Danny turned to apologize to her and wondered if they were actually causing her stress, rather than her doing much so far to reduce Steve's. He watched as she scribbled furiously. "Okay, I was going to move on, but I'm actually confused. What happened with the ladder?"

"Steve was left in charge of getting us things we need for the restaurant while I was in New Jersey for a week and he bought a bunch of things as cheaply as he could. And that included the ladder."

"You… restaurant?" She seemed even more confused than before. 

"Danny and I are opening a restaurant together," Steve clarified. 

"Oh," she said.

"What is that for? That 'oh'," Danny asked. 

"Just- you know, starting a business - especially one with a 60-80% failure rate - it can be very stressful."

"Let me ask you something," Danny twisted in his seat again. "Why do people always feel the need to point out to us that most restaurants fail? I don't need that. We don't need that."

"It's still true Danny. And she's perfectly right about how restaurants in particular can be," Steve said. He looked a little smug, like the tables had been turned somehow. 

"This is supposed to be for our retirements. For when we can finish working the extremely stressful jobs we have and settle into something different. I would have thought that's something Chloe here would champion. I mean, what are you saying, that we shouldn't be doing it?"

"Why did you start doing it?" she asked. 

"Because we thought it would be fun. Steve likes building things and working with his hands. I like being not shot at. And we both like to cook."

"It's Danny's dream to have a restaurant and 'Steve's' is coming along nicely so far, if I do say so myself."

"We're not calling it that."

"You promised me. Right before the bomb went off."

"I did no such thing, the bomb went off before I could agree either way and you just assumed from then on. But the point remains that we can't call it 'Steve's' when you're a partner in the restaurant. We can't name it after one partner and not the other."

"Hold on, why if this is Danny's dream, are you doing this with him?" she asked Steve.

The man just shrugged, the answer obvious, surely. "Because he asked me. And he's right, it's fun. Consider it another thing I do in my spare time that I enjoy."

"Opening a restaurant alongside the man you work with all day in close partnership as cops."

"Well, yeah," Steve answered. Danny nodded along. It made perfect sense to both of them.

 

*

Steve drove off as soon as Danny and Chloe had got out of the car. Danny stood for a second and waved into Steve's dust - the meaning not lost on him that the SEAL wanted to get out of Dodge asap and away from the added strangeness to their day. 

"Come on," Danny gestured for Chloe to fall into step beside him. "I apologize for his behavior. I firmly believe he was raised by animals."

"It's okay. I get it. It's normal for someone in his situation. It wasn't necessarily his decision to seek help. It was yours on his behalf. He's probably feeling put upon, even if he did agree."

"You think he feels forced?"

"No, I don't think so. I think he agreed because you wanted him to. I think he's the kind of guy who does things like that. Partially to make his own life easier, but mostly because he's got that selfless vibe where he wants to do things to make other people happy."

"On occasion, I can agree with you, but not always."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Just that he can also be very selfish. Prime example - that's my car he's just driven off in."

"Your car?"

"Yes it belongs to me. I paid for it, I put the gas in it, I pay the insurance, it is mine in every meaning of the word and not his. Yet every time he is in the car, he's in the drivers' seat. The man has serious control issues."

"And you let him drive it whenever he wants?"

"Because I'm pretty sure if I don't, I'll just make things difficult for the both of us."

"I think it's really nice of you to compromise like that."

"I do, too," he said as they walked past the security and began to head up the stairs. 

"Tell me," she began, trying to keep up with him. "I mean, I'd like to ask more questions about Steve, but I get the feeling he won't be very forthcoming about a few things. I get the impression, going by just how well you know him and how close you two are, that you can fill in some gaps for me."

"Sure, I can try. What do you want to know?"

"I'm curious about his relationships. He described his current one as being 'on and off'. When someone says things like that and isn't fully committed it's usually because they've been stung in the past," she almost ran into him as he stopped in his tracks, but she gathered herself quickly. "I know what you're going to say. I'm not your therapist, it's none of my business, but hang ups from the past are a large factor in stress. When you can't let go of something, wondering if things might have been different - it's the kind of thing to keep a person up at night. I want to help him with that if I can."

Danny turned to her, feeling a little self-conscious as she'd also managed to describe him perfectly in respect to his marriage to Rachel, but she didn't seem in the least like she noticed the wheels in his head turning. Hell, he was learning a lot about his own stress through this journey, not just Steve's. 

He shifted his stance and put a hand protectively over his bad arm as he concentrated on Steve again instead. "He, uh, he was going to propose to his last girlfriend. They'd known each other a very long time but they never spent a lot of time together because of their jobs and stuff. Thing was, they hadn't seen each other for about a year when she walked back into his life that last time. She said she was going to stay, and he, I dunno, I think he thought that maybe it would help if he put a ring on her finger."

"But he's not married so I can only assume it didn't go to plan."

"She bolted again pretty quickly, even after I talked to her about if she was going to stick around or not. And I think he had the opportunity and didn't take it. He's never told me why he didn't but I know he had the chance. Maybe he figured out for himself that marrying her wasn't the good idea he'd thought it was. And it probably doesn't help that Catherine is very much like his mom and, in fact, the two of them still work together. We think, anyway. It's all classified CIA stuff so who knows for sure except them, right?"

"CIA stuff?" she asked, jaw practically hanging open at the revelations.

"Yeah," Danny gave her a sympathetic look. "Our lives are pretty complicated sometimes. I feel like maybe I dragged you into a whole mess you weren't prepared for. Bet you're used to accountants and PTA moms."

She gave him a rueful look. "You'd be surprised, but even so, I don't think I've ever met anyone like Steve before. Or you, for that matter."

"Me?" Danny asked, walking again. "What have I got to do with this? You're here to assess Steve."

"I know, but in doing so, I still get to know other people around him. And considering how important you are in his life, I'm getting to know you the most."

It made sense to Danny, and he missed the way Chloe keenly watched his reactions while he so furiously concentrated on how her presence affected Steve and what details she could pull out of him. "This is our office. See yourself in, Lou should be in there with the others and he'll introduce you."

"Where are you going?" she asked. 

"Just the little boys room. I'll be back in a minute."

When Danny returned he couldn't see Chloe at first, but assumed she was sitting nearby somewhere until he spotted her in Steve's office with Junior. He walked up to the computer table where everyone had gathered as they went over the facts of the case that Jerry and Tani had been researching. After the update he turned again to Steve's office.

"Okay, what's going on in there?"

"Oh, Chloe apparently had asked for Junior to stop by. I think she wanted a perspective on McGarrett's home life," Jerry said. 

"Hmm," Danny said, not least because he wasn't sure when she'd done that - though maybe while Steve and Danny had been in the hospital she'd looked into some more of the people around them. But also, if she needed to know that kind of thing she could have just asked Danny. 

Okay, so maybe they didn't live together. And maybe it had been a long time since they'd done any real cohabiting like back when Danny was looking for a new place to stay after his first apartment building got demolished to make new condos. But Danny knew Steve much better than Junior. And Steve was probably on his best behavior while the kid was around, trying to be a role model. With Danny, Steve was always at his most slobbish and unguarded - years of friendship and comfort did that to people. So if anyone was going to provide the insight she needed - surely it was Danny.

And it had nothing to do with the slight jarring of jealousy Danny felt over Junior's place in the McGarrett home. It wasn't like Danny wanted to be over there so often. He loved his own home, filled with his kids and his belongings and all laid out the way he liked everything. He could admit it felt odd thinking of Steve having a 'roommate' but he didn't begrudge the kid a home to stay in after being in the shelter. Steve was doing a good thing and Danny was proud of that. It just interrupted the 'norm' that was all.

He ended up walking into the office just as Chloe and Junior were finishing up. 

"Nice kid," she said as she sat down. 

"Very nice kid," Danny agreed but she kept going before he could ask anything. 

"I'm glad you're here actually. Do you think Commander McGarrett would consider a treadmill desk or maybe a snake plant?"

"What's a snake plant?" he asked.

"It's an evergreen perennial. It's great for small spaces. And plants can be an incredible mood booster. A few adjustments to one's work space can do wonders for stress relief."

"Okay, let me explain something to you," Danny sat down. "You shouldn't be in here. He should not know that you were snooping around in his office. And as far as him making any changes to his work space, that's just not going to happen. Remember, I told you he's very stubborn. Pig-headed. Getting him to change anything is going to be very difficult, let alone his work space. I mean, I'm seeking your help because I've had zero success at getting him to change. I already know what works and doesn't work when it comes to Steve McGarrett."

"Because you know him better than anybody."

"That's right."

"Okay," she gave him an appraising look. "So how about you?"

"How about me what?"

"I've noticed in your conversations with Steve that some of what you say is pretty negative. And you had that argument in the car this morning. I think if you tried a more positive outlook it would help him. In fact, it would help both of you. Negativity breeds into stress. Worrying _**is**_ stress."

"So you're saying that it's me. That I've got to change, not him?"

"I'm saying that perhaps you can be the trailblazer. Maybe if you take on board some of my recommendations, and if you try to be more positive and more relaxed, then maybe it'll… rub off on him, so to speak."

"That sounds an awful lot like being a guinea pig."

She waved her head a little. "You said before that Steve drives your car. Which means that you've made compromises for him. You understand how important it is to have balance like that in a relationship."

"That's because I'm an adult. I end up compromising all the time for him. And as far as he is concerned he'll occasionally, uh, 'give in' in return. Only occasionally. And usually by that point I'm just as tired out badgering him as he is hearing me do it, so I don't exactly count those situations as wins."

"It sounds frustrating," she nodded sagely.

"It's very frustrating."

"It sounds stressful," she fiddled with her pen. "But I think it would help in this situation to give it a try. For Steve's sake," she added and that got Danny to stop his internal grumbling about how it was going to be on him again to make some kind of change. 

"Less arguing. That's going to be difficult. It's kind of our thing, and I'm pretty sure Steve actually enjoys it because he likes winding me up. If I do this, he'll spot it a mile away."

"Just give it a try. One time. That's all I ask. If anything, it'll be a lesson for me in how your partnership works. I'd like to see what it looks like when you say nicer things to each other."

He was skeptical. "Okay, I'll give it a shot."

"Give what a shot?" Steve asked as he breezed in with Alicia in tow.

*

Getting a location on Oliver meant the team scrambled quickly. Chloe had insisted on coming and was in the back of the car again as they sped through the streets.

Steve sighed. "Listen, Chloe, you do understand that you didn't have to come along, right?"

"No. No, I was hired to make an assessment and I'm going to- do you have to drive so fast?"

"Oh, we always do it like this, you're going to be okay," Steve answered flippantly and Danny held his tongue, biting down way too hard on his bottom lip. "What's wrong with you?" Steve asked him - just Danny's silence clearly signposted that he wasn't being himself and as predicted, Steve knew that.

"Me?"

"Yeah, you."

"I didn't say anything."

"Exactly, that's why I'm asking what's wrong. Usually by now you've said something hilarious like… 'Hey, Steve, you know it's not the Delorean Time Machine you don't have to get it up to 88'."

"That's actually funny," Danny said, pretty sure that was one he'd used sometime before.

"Or maybe 'hey, can you turn up the radio' and I say 'why' and you say 'I'm pretty sure I heard the GPS lady say she wants to get out'."

Danny smiled, mostly at Steve's terrible impression of him and he was itching to say how much he hated the way Steve was driving but he felt Chloe's eyes on him and her words reverberated in his head and he knew he had to exude calmness for Steve's sake. He put actual effort into it but at the same time he knew it was stupid because Steve wouldn't fall for it. He couldn't help it if his lack of optimism in the method seeped through into what he said. "I think you're doing a fine job. In fact, maybe you want to give Grace a driving lesson this weekend."

The instant he thought it, he regretted it because no way was he letting Steve teach Grace to drive but it still came out of his mouth and he wished he could have stopped it. Grace had been talking non-stop, begging for lessons, the thought was on his brain and it came out. He bit his lip again in frustration - Steve better not hold him to this. 

"Oh my God," the SEAL said. "You told him he's part of the problem, didn't you! She did, didn't she! She said that your constant complaining and criticisms are contributing to my stress," Steve said with an edge of anger to his voice that Danny wasn't sure was directed at him or Chloe because he didn't like it. 

Danny laughed. He did warn her. Steve wasn't happy with change on the best of days and that extended to his partner changing, too. Intelligently, Danny knew this. Getting Chloe in was a Hail Mary at best and unlikely to succeed. He didn't expect Steve to take anything on board that meant actual change in his life, but if he could get the other man to acknowledge he had a problem, that he had issues he wasn't dealing with, that he had friends and family who worried about him then maybe that might make a difference. The change Danny craved was in Steve's outlook and in his emotional responses to things.

So far, Chloe was a bit of a dud. All this talk of plants and stair masters wasn't what Danny had in mind when he hired her.

The SEAL changed from his frustration at how Danny had gone along with Chloe's idea, to one of mirth. "You know Chloe, I think you're right. I think I do have a stress problem. And it's right here and rides shotgun with me every day-"

"Okay, keep your eyes on the road, please," she pleaded with him as he turned for too long in her direction while still speeding down the road. But they didn't have time for any 'I told you so's or for Steve to dig his heels in about something else, as soon as they hung up with Jerry the car was spinning in a 180 and they were making their way to HPD.

*

They had to leave Chloe at HPD - the situation was far too fraught to have her along. She tried for all of 10 seconds to insist that she should see the highest stress situation they could be in but Steve was adamant and Danny had to agree. A ride along was one thing, but what was going on with Oliver Matthus was much bigger. 

She hitched a ride back to the Palace with a squad car and after the dust settled, they met her back there where she was sitting in Chin's old office speaking on her phone. Both men wandered in, Steve's face impassive but Danny's more open. "Are you okay?" he asked her. 

"I feel like I should be the one asking you that question," she answered.

"We're done," Danny said. "Case closed. Alicia got him to back down without anyone else getting hurt. This is usually the point where we sit in our offices and fill out the paperwork but we're all hungry so we thought we'd head to Kamekona's for some food. Everyone's curious as to what your verdict is."

"Sounds good. I'd like to see how you unwind," she said. "And having your friends together means they'll be able to find out their roles moving forward in the de-stressing of your lives." 

Danny was going to correct her, because it was Steve's life they were trying to help, the plural was erroneous. But as he took a breath, Steve interrupted. 

"Who were you on the phone with?" 

"Just now?" she answered Steve, stalling for time a little. "Oh, that was uh, Kono Kalakaua and her husband."

"You were speaking to Kono? About me?" Steve asked, eyebrows raising. He glanced at Danny as if to ask why he would allow her to do so much snooping. 

"I've spoken to a lot of people about you, and not just the ones who are part of your current team. I've also spoken to Chin Ho Kelly and Abby Dunn. There's no need to worry, everyone speaks very highly of you. They care for you a great deal."

"Danny-" Steve began in warning, but then held his hands up and walked out of the office. 

Danny turned to Chloe. "Sorry about him. He's just, he's very private. I think if he'd known in advance who you were going to speak to, he'd be fine with it. He just doesn't like having things sprung on him."

"I get it," she said. "Clients have expressed similar responses before. Usually it means they're hiding something they don't want me to find out. I don't' mean a big secret like something illegal. Just that by my painting a really big picture of them, I'll find out something that's important to them. Figure them out."

"And all of that relates to their stress?"

"Sometimes, it's the biggest factor," she replied. "And by the way, I think I've got Steve figured out."

Something in her changed in that moment, away from the giggles and the silly behavior. She gave him a knowing look that promised that whatever she'd figured out was something that would affect him. But she wasn't giving it away - not yet.

"Let's go eat," she suggested.

*

"Do all these people need to be here for this?" Steve asked, still smarting from just how many people Chloe had spoken to over the course of the day and it was like the man felt a hammer about to drop and he'd prefer it happen in private.

"Oh hell yeah," Lou answered after a sip of his beer. "Seeing a professional try to tell McGarrett what to do? Hell, that's dinner and a show, I should have brought my wife."

Danny looked around as the others laughed. None of them expected miracles nor did they expect much that would be remotely helpful. But Danny had an inkling that Chloe had played them and he was going to take this next few minutes seriously. "Everyone, if you're going to be here then you gotta zip it. Please. Let's hear what Chloe has to say."

"Well, Commander, I want to tell you to quit your job and take up gardening, but I've spent all day with you and I don't see that happening." Everyone around the table agreed with her on that one. "I do have some basic advice that I will give you in my written report tomorrow. Simple pointers on small changes to make; some I'm sure you are maybe already familiar with - breathing techniques, yoga, dietary advice, things like that."

"Sounds good," Steve said, almost with a sigh of relief that everything seemed normal in her assessment.

"That being said, I think it's good that everyone is here so that we can discuss the elephant in the room," she continued. "But before we talk about that, I'm well aware that at various times during the day you've been frustrated at my being here and the way in which I acted at times. I do my best to be innocuous and for you to more easily dismiss me while I'm watching."

"You played us," Steve preempted, with a shake of his head. "Danny, did you know this all along?"

"I did not. I hired Chloe on a recommendation."

"You don't look surprised," Steve accused him. 

Danny nodded. "I may have suspected something a little while ago. I'm clearly the best detective sitting around this table," he tried to diffuse any betrayal the others might feel at Chloe's misdirect, allowing the others to focus on his brag instead.

"You spent more time with her," Lou pointed out. 

"That's true," Danny admitted. 

"And it's an important point, thank you Captain Grover," Chloe said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Danny asked, feeling his own tension rise. 

"It means that today was just as much about you as it was about Steve," she explained. "Sometimes when I'm hired, it's by the person themselves who wants to de-stress. But in this case and others, when a friend or family member is the one with the concerns, then it's also about them. You care so much about Steve, you worry about him to a huge extent that it's stressing you in return."

"That's Danny's default setting," Lou put in. 

"Okay," Danny said, unsure what else to say. Steve was looking smug again. It was his usual. If he was going down, then he was taking Danny with him. 

"You're an important part of Steve's health care. But I think you knew that already," she said to him with a smile. "You make compromises to keep your relationship in the kind of place you've both agreed is good for you. It's something you've probably always done. Today you even took my prodding to take things further despite knowing it wouldn't work, despite thinking it was the stupidest thing you'd ever heard. You still did it. That tells me just how much you care and how much you're willing to do for him." She turned her attention back to Steve. "That's something I'd like for you to acknowledge more."

"How is that stress related?" Steve asked, confusion set on his face.

"You're the kind of guy who likes to make sure other people are happy. Acknowledging what Danny does for you will make him feel appreciated. And by doing that, it'll give you satisfaction and will help alleviate stress by merely being a positive thing. You should try it more often."

"Can I get a raise?" Danny asked of him, making everyone laugh again.

"Look, I've spoken to a lot of people today, I've learned a lot about both of you. And I know that change is something neither of you like. Change in your lives before has been incredibly stressful and I wouldn't want to prescribe something that would make your lives worse. I'm not going to tell you to change anything. Just to acknowledge each other more and to encourage you to do what makes you happy. As much as opening a restaurant would be an incredibly bad idea for a lot of people, for the two of you, it seems to be a really good thing. Mostly because it means you're together."

"You know, most people tell them they need to spend time apart, not more time together," Lou said. 

"Well, I think most people are wrong," she shrugged. 

"You're kidding me," Steve leaned forward. "Earlier you said Danny was part of the problem."

"And that was while I was testing you and I didn't say it, you assumed it," she pointed out. "And, might I add, you were outraged at the thought before trying to turn towards humor to deflect it as ridiculous."

"But that's- that's not what I was doing."

"It's exactly what you were doing. Look, I think it's time I hit the nail on the head," she said taking a breath. "The elephant in the room that I mentioned earlier, is how much you love each other. Everyone I spoke to today thinks of you as a pair. I heard mention of the word 'marriage' far too often. You live in each others' pockets, share everything and these people all assume that if one of you knows something, the other automatically does. If you're being called to a crime scene, they only call one of you. If one of you is invited to something, the other will be there, too. If they have a concern they're not comfortable raising directly with one of you, they go to the other for help. And it extends to how you think of yourselves as a duo, too."

"I'm still confused about what this has to do with stress management," Steve said.

"What's stressful about how much you love one another, is in how you keep yourselves to this predefined level," she tried to explain. "Putting your relationship in a box and labeling it and not allowing it to stray out of the box."

"Oh, I get it," Lou said with a nod after another sip of beer. "You're talking about how they're in love but act like oblivious idiots over it and don't just get married for real and take it to the honeymoon suite?"

"That's a colorful way of putting it but essentially, yes," Chloe answered.

"You know, this is a little bit awkward for me because I'm new," Tani put in. "And because you're my bosses. But I gotta say I always thought there was something going on."

Junior raised his hand. "I wondered the same thing. Mostly when Detective Williams would show up every morning and have breakfast with Commander McGarrett. I even saw him help with the laundry once. Thought it was weird. Sirs," he put in when he saw the way they looked at him. "And not in a bad way. I don't think there's anything wrong with it. Sirs," he said again as he finished. 

"Look," Danny wiped his hand over his forehead after seeing just how ramrod straight Steve's back had become when he'd folded his arms, listening to everyone. "I appreciate the concern, but this has all taken a turn into a direction I did not see coming. But while we're talking about this," he shifted a little in his seat. "You all act like we're stupid or something. We're not, okay? This… this was all discussed a long time ago and Steve and I decided back then, not that it's any of your business, but we decided that keeping things, uh, platonic, was the best course of action."

"Why was that?" Chloe asked. 

"Because we're partners, we work closely. We figured it was best for the team. The last thing we wanted was for something like that to affect things. And if it fell apart it would ruin everything. It was too big a risk. And when we did first have the conversation it was just after a really bad situation, we were both highly stressed," he acknowledged the buzz word of the day. "And we didn't want to do anything in case it was only because of what we'd just been through."

"How long ago was this?" Kamekona asked. 

"Way before anyone else at this table knew us," Danny said, not giving any more of a hint. It wasn't anybody else's business. 

"Ah," the big man replied with a sage nod. "So it was after McGarrett got out of prison once he was exonerated of the murder of Governor Jameson."

Steve's jaw seemed to drop open and Danny sat back. "How did you-?" he asked, astonished. 

"Your relationship with your ex-wife had deteriorated again, brah. And McGarrett had been stuck in a jail cell in solitary for too long."

"Did you tell him?" Danny accused Steve who held his hands up innocently. 

"Of course I didn't!"

"I know everything, bruddahs," Kamekona gave a smug smile. "You think my expertise extends only to knowing what goes on with the criminals on the Islands? Nah… my eyes and ears are always open. It's why I never started a betting pool on the two of you getting together once you realized how you felt - because you already knew how it was and you were ignoring it," he finished. 

"What's going on here? I'm so confused," Danny moaned but Lou was still keeping on this topic. 

"Hang on a second," the Chicago native asked. "That was a long time ago. You don't think that over the years you couldn't have just changed your minds about this?"

Steve gave Danny a pointed look. "I thought so. But Danny didn't."

"Hey," Danny pointed an accusatory finger at him. "Don't start that. We spent almost a year getting back on track after that last time. It took me giving you my liver to make things right again."

"I've said it before and I'll say it a million times, you were not going to be some crazy rebound after Catherine left. There's a really good reason why I didn't propose to her in the end and you refused to think that it was because of you."

Danny stopped him. "I'm not talking about this again. We've had this argument. It doesn't go to a good place. And we're in public, so please can it. I'm asking you nicely. Please."

"Then perhaps you should take a moment alone?" Chloe suggested.

The two men looked at each other. "I'm going to get another round of drinks in. Danny, help me with it, please," he said, frustrated. 

Danny dutifully followed him over to the truck where Steve's exasperation was winning out. "Okay, putting aside the fact that we do really need to talk about things between us again, first I gotta ask what all this was about in the first place."

"Well," Danny glanced back to the table. "It's certainly not gone to plan. It's not turned out as I expected."

"What was that. Exactly."

"Uh, I guess we've had some success before using counselors and I just thought that rather than dragging you back to therapy, that this might be an easier way to get you to pay attention to your health."

"What's going on with this micro=managing of my health all of a sudden? Why are you doing this?"

"Because I am scared that you're not taking this seriously," Danny answered, jumping in with honestly. "When you told me you had radiation poisoning you were very casual about it. Just like you were after I gave you my liver. You didn't follow any of the post-op instructions and don't even try to tell me I'm exaggerating because I'm not. It's how I feel about it and the nice lady has said that my worrying about your health is not good for my stress levels either, so I am telling you right now that I am scared. Okay? I'm genuinely scared about your health. I lay up at night, I'm sick about it. And you acting like it's no big deal just makes it worse."

"Danny-" Steve started with a sympathetic tone. "Why didn't you say something?"

"Because we don't do that," Danny told him. "We don't talk about things between us. We talk about a lot of things; Rachel, Catherine, our parents and how they made us the messed up people we are, but we don't talk about _**us**_. Not in that deep way. That was the deal we made. We know how we feel, we know how much we care, but we don't act on it and we don't- we don't really acknowledge it."

"Well, it's clearly a stupid deal to make if we can't talk about anything else about how we feel for fear that we touch the one aspect of us that we decided was taboo," Steve said. 

"I don't deny that, but you know as well as I do that going there means there's no turning back and we've never been ready for that before."

"Well, according to Chloe, the main stress factor in our lives is hiding our true feelings from each other and regulating how we behave. I gotta tell you, I think she has a point. I'm sick of censoring myself and making sure I don't cross a line every time I'm with you. And I'm pretty sure you feel the same about that."

Danny slowly nodded along, one hand crossed over to his bad elbow and to the apparatus keeping it in its healing position. Although there was conversation going on at their table, it was clear that the inhabitants were keeping a close watch on them and it was off-putting. He reached for Steve's elbow and beckoned him further away. "Come on, if we're doing this then we need a little bit more privacy away from the peanut gallery."

They didn't go far; just round to the back of the shrimp truck and out of the way of prying eyes. Danny leaned back against the truck, he rubbed at the patch of skin above his elbow injury and scratched just under his t-shirt. He was unsure what to say, how much to admit that Steve had a point. How much Chloe was right after spending a short amount of time with them. 

"Look, if someone has to go out on a limb here, then I'll do it," Steve said to him. 

As ever, the Navy SEAL was going to take point and was going to run headlong into the situation in order to spare his partner from doing so. Protecting him. It was one of the things that Danny loved about him. Infuriated him, too, but mostly it was love. 

"I love you, man. Everything about you. And, yeah, we decided a long time ago that a romantic relationship could really jeopardize things but I gotta tell you, that was _**a long time ago**_. And even if we didn't act on anything it's not changed how we feel. And we're not only still here as partners, but we found ways to do even more together with the restaurant and everything else that we do. If anything, all this time has just proved that those fears we had were unfounded. I think whenever we have revisited the possibilities it's been at really stupid, dumb times when we were at our most emotional and we were right then to not make any new decisions. But my opinion right now, when both of us are at good places in our lives, is that we need to stop holding back. We need to give it a shot. Frankly, moving forward is the only option left to us because we've been in a standstill for too long and that's getting hard to bear."

Danny took a breath. Steve rarely gave speeches about anything, let alone his feelings. And he made good points. Danny always had fears about making decisions like this, making changes, risking his heart. But he did. He took the chances even if he did worry about the consequences. He married Rachel, he let Gabby get close to Grace, he rekindled things with Melissa after leaving her out of his life for so long… he allowed Steve free reign to his heart and soul. And that last one had happened without any thought or control. It had been instinctual and it set it apart from the others and thinking about it now was telling. Like a bright neon sign with an arrow pointing at Steve it seemed so damned obvious that this was different no matter what he tried to tell himself before. 

"You know, I, uh, I've always said that if we do this then it's gotta stick. It's gotta be right because if it's not then it ruins more than just our friendship. And I stand by that. I also think that you have a point. We're still here. We're still a unit. And we're not just making drunken decisions to fall into bed together."

"So… we're doing this?" Steve asked, a glimmer of a smile on his face, not wanting to get his hopes up until Danny confirmed things. 

"We're both adults. Adding sex into what we already have actually doesn't seem like the huge leap that it did 6 or so years ago."

"But it's more than that," Steve reminded him. "Intimacy is more than just sex. Being the forever and always deal is still a big thing."

Danny waved his head back and forth. He knew it was, but he didn't want to put added pressure on them right now. "I dunno, I mean, now that I know about the handcuffs and the role play-"

Steve shoved him into the truck, a knee between Danny's thighs, Danny's injured arm trapped between them and Steve's hands sliding down his side and round to Danny's ass. He gave Danny an intense look, it was almost pleading in both desire and in how seriously he needed to know Danny was on the exact same page as him.

"Hey," Danny told him with an earnest look. "I promise. I understand how forever works."

"Good," Steve said, one hand squeezing into Danny's ass before skirting quickly up so it could cup loosely at his neck. In the next moment they were kissing. The first was solid in determination, but still chaste and short. It gave them both one last out. As they looked at each other again, neither flinched with any doubt, and with a smile their lips touched again. 

Like a dam had been broken, they opened to each other, sharing the pent up years of need with gentle presses of tongues, grasping hands and an attempt to merge into one. 

They had kissed before. That first time the idea had been floated, they'd kissed a couple of times and talked at length for a whole night over whether it was a good idea or a bad one. Danny had missed how those kisses had made him feel but over time and with different relationships that had faded but now, having it again, made him realize he'd been seeking it out over the years with no success. And not just the kisses, but all of the intimacy, the romance, the love. He'd been looking for Steve this whole time, even while he was standing right beside him-

"Ahem," A throat was cleared from close by and broke into their thoughts and their kissing. 

They turned to face Kamekona. 

"This is a family establishment," the big guy said. "If you're going to do this, I suggest you get a room," he pointed up to the Rainbow tower nearby. " Or you take it home. After you pay for that next round you promised."

"Right," Steve said, leaning his forehead to Danny's temple as he breathed. "Put it on my tab, Kamekona. We'll get out of your way."

Steve took Danny's hand and began to lead him to where the Camaro was parked but Kamekona called out to them. 

"Hey, McGarrett," he said. "Maybe the first time you don't use the handcuffs. Use one of Jersey's old ties and leave it loose, just in case," the big man nodded his head and wiggled his eyebrows.

"I-" Danny began. 

"How-" Steve asked. 

Both were at a loss as to where Kamekona's knowledge began and ended and with a glance decided they really didn't want to know. 

Walking back to the car, Danny hooked his good hand around Steve's arm. "You do realize that we've still got a lot of talking to do before we, uh, follow any of Shamu's suggestions."

"I know that. And I'm still anticipating what it's going to be like to finally be in bed together. But even if that still takes a little bit of time, it's okay. We're moving forward, that's the main thing. And there's been a stress lifted from my shoulders," he grinned down at the smaller man. 

"So hiring a stress management counselor was-"

"A good idea. Yeah," Steve said with a wink as they parted to go to either side of the vehicle.

"Incidentally," Danny leaned his arms on the top of the car. "Chloe and I discussed the compromises I make in allowing you to drive my car all the time. And she thinks that-"

"Wait, did I say it was a good idea that you hired her, because I changed my mind. You shouldn't listen to anything she said. It's all just nonsense."

"You're unbelievable," Danny shook his head but climbed into the passenger seat as normal.


End file.
